Newly launched Potential Adaptive Child Education Centre adopts new approach to educating students with special needs

The newly launched Potential Adaptive Child Education, PACE, Centre is taking an alternative approach to traditional Special Education Needs, SEN, by celebrating and nurturing the unique talents of every student under its care.

The centre, located in Umm Suqeim, is part of the Dubai Education portfolio that also includes Canadian University Dubai, CUD. Set in a colorfully engaging physical environment, students are challenged to learn to comfortably transition between academic classes and their special classes, which might include art, music, play therapy, computer science, and physical education, so that staff can tap into and nurture their individual skills and abilities.

Director Dr. Jaclyn Fowler said, "Our mission is to serve young people with special needs by creating opportunities for all our students to live their fullest, most joyous lives. We do this by operating within a systems approach where, for example, therapy and learning are combined in a seamless whole, not in isolation, so that therapy and learning inform and enhance one another."

The centre brings together teachers, therapists, learning support professionals, parents and the wider community, to play a collective role in creating a programme that provides safe and outward-looking circles of care and life opportunities for students.

Launched at the start of the 2016-17 academic year, the centre is characterised by its small, intimate setting, and is already cultivating the talents of special needs students who have demonstrated uniquely outstanding flair in disciplines such as music, sport, languages and numerical reasoning.

While relatively new to the Dubai SEN community, the centre is making its mark by pursuing partnerships that aim to provide a pathway for students to explore their future educational opportunities and develop a map for emerging life choices.

Dr. Fowler said, "The philosophy of PACE is characterised by a sense of service. This service is focused not only on our own SEN community, but also on the greater Dubai SEN community. We believe that we make the world a more open and accepting place for our own students when we are open enough to engage in the wider community."

Sharing the CUD philosophy of 'inspiring minds, transforming lives', the ultimate goal of the PACE Centre is to ensure that each student receives an Individualized Education Programme, or IEP, that is based on their unique abilities and adapted to meet their varying needs. Dr. Fowler concluded, "Here at PACE, we envision a time when every child in the UAE receives a customised learning programme that leads to a full and happy life."